Thermal Images FLIR

[Lon12]

Finally received my PHEV this week. I live in a colder climate so was interested in its various heaters.
After living with the Leaf's heated steering wheel I was kind of disappointed at the small area that is heated on the PHEV wheel.
The other heaters work very well and are too hot to touch.

I don't understand why the fluid lines from the high power electric cabin heater have to run outside the vehicle and are not insulated.

 

[Lon12]

Just a few more FLIR:

 

[generaltso]

Very cool!

 

[anko]

Very cool!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Lon12]

Very cool!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Ya. I almost burned myself touching those parts.
Not so "cool". :lol:

 

[Latt]

Rather silly with the uninsulated parts outside the car. It doesn't seem too difficult do some DIY insulation of them though. I wonder if it's worth it.

 

[ghoti]

Very neat photos!

I thought it seemed odd that the rubber portion of the heater hoses under the car show as if they are hotter than the bare metal. I'm guessing the metal actually has a hotter surface but the emissivity of the rubber portion is higher than the metal so it emits more IR. I pre-heated my car for 5 minutes then reached under and touched the different parts of the hoses - the metal certainly feels hotter.

I've noticed similar odd reading of surfaces in my house with an IR thermometer. When I put paper tape on the surfaces and remeasured with the IR thermometer I got more reasonable temperature readings.

Still those Flir photos are great for show hot zones.

 

[Harald]

Very neat photos!

I thought it seemed odd that the rubber portion of the heater hoses under the car show as if they are hotter than the bare metal. I'm guessing the metal actually has a hotter surface but the emissivity of the rubber portion is higher than the metal so it emits more IR. I pre-heated my car for 5 minutes then reached under and touched the different parts of the hoses - the metal certainly feels hotter.

I've noticed similar odd reading of surfaces in my house with an IR thermometer. When I put paper tape on the surfaces and remeasured with the IR thermometer I got more reasonable temperature readings.

Still those Flir photos are great for show hot zones.

Using myself a FLIR for quite a while now:
I agree with your arguments, but there is more than only the emmissivity. Reflective surfaces like glass, metals, mirrors (!) show a good portion of "reflected temperature" results. Taking a picture of a window, you will see the reflection of your body in the glass, indicating it would be warmer than it is.
Big differences will occur, when the surface shows reflections of the open sky which would show values significantly under 0°C in summer time.

Windshield wiper rest area heat.

Can anybody tell when the wiper rest area is heateed, when not?

 

[Trades46]

Watching the EVolution Australia teardown I finally see where Mitsubishi placed the electric heater core...and frankly it is kind of humorous. I would have through putting it in the engine bay would have been more smarter, but the location under the driver's seat without insulation seems like a compromise measure.

I'm pretty certain Mitsubishi added the electric heater at the last second with this odd placement. On the bright side, unlike the Kia Niro PHEV we have the option of an electric heater even if it isn't that efficient & is a large drain on the drive battery. At least it gives the option of pre-heating without the ICE running.